Exclusion and Silencing by Safe Schools Coordinator at 'Equity for All' Conference

I am a parent of two children who are students in the Toronto educational system. I am also involved with several parent groups including the School Council of both of my children's schools and the ward council. I am also the vice-chair of the Organization of Parents of Black Children which has been a community liaison group with the Board for several years. I am very actively involved in the education of my children since their education is of great importance to my family. I, like any other parent want my children to have positive experiences during their school year. This is not always the case for children of African descent and is the reason why I am writing to you.

I am concerned and alarmed by an incident that took place at the Equity for All Conference which was held at Jarvis Collegiate Institute on Saturday, February 19, 2000. I attended a workshop entitled 'Bullying and Homophobia' which was facilitated by the TDSB Safe Schools Coordinator. The co-facilitator was an OISE/UT professor.

During the presentation, the Safe Schools Coordinator used a scenario to illustrate an example of 'homophobia or bullying.' This scenario stated that an average student was being chased through the hallways of a large secondary school in Toronto by a Russian immigrant student. The scenario also stated that the Russian immigrant student who had been in the country for approximately two years was the child of middle class parents, was shouting homophobic epithets at the average student. A participant in the workshop asked the Safe Schools Coordinator why the ethnicity of the student was important and he replied that at that time that there was no particular importance. He was then asked by another participant what was meant by an 'average' student. The Safe schools Coordinator answered that an average student was white, Canadian born of English/Irish ancestry.

I could not believe what I was hearing. This was an Equity for all Conference and I was not being treated very equitably. Towards the end of the workshop, I asked about the definition of 'average' that had been given earlier. The [Safe Schools Coordinator] answer was that he was in a hurry and did not have the time to choose correct language when he was putting the scenario together. This answer is totally unacceptable since he went into such detail to describe the offending student's ethnic background and status in Canada. The language used in that scenario was discriminatory. The Safe Schools Coordinator should know better than to use language like that. I definitely did not feel safe in that environment. I felt silenced. I was unable to express my concerns adequately in the atmosphere that was created by the oppressive language that was used in that scenario. I am asking that officials/staff of the School District receive training on appropriate language especially when conducting workshops. The atmosphere produced by the language of the scenario was definitely poisoned for me.

I am asking that the Safe Schools Coordinator be advised by yourself that the language used was discriminatory at best, totally inappropriate and contributed to a poisoned work environment. It is not appropriate to discriminate against any group to safeguard another group. It has been said more than once that there is no hierarch of oppression but that was not the impression left with me on Saturday. I am left wondering at the level of safety in our schools for those of our children who are not in the 'average' bracket of this scenario.

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